Whatever we hoped they’d be, they are

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How do you follow up the best debut album in years? In Arctic Monkeys’ case, with the best second album. Our writer gets an advance listen to Favourite Worst Nightmare - and it’s a dream come true

Spare a thought for the accidental genius, the teenager who starts a band and suddenly finds himself fêted as the saviour of pop. For a few hours it’s probably quite flattering. But who would want to try to write a song under that sort of pres-sure? How much fun is that?

Quite a lot, it would seem, if you’re Arctic Monkeys. It takes class to steal the show without turning up to the Brits. Yet only a month before the band release what must be the year’s most anticipated album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, Arctic Monkeys pulled it off by filming